Other Stars may be caught in Johnny Football's mess.
Everyone knows about the Johnny Manziel autograph scandal being headline news.
Well, the same guy who has all that Manziel swag, seems to be selling autographed memorabilia of other college football stars. Big names include, but may not be limited to...
- Jadeveon Clowney
- Teddy Bridgewater
- ...and Braxton Miller
- [EDIT] Our very own Taylor Lewan.
Without getting into what is wrong and right, if the same evidence is here for these guys, that is there for Manziel, that would be a huge blow to the NCAA. I cannot see them taking 4 Heisman hopefuls out of the race before the season even starts.
Now on to OSU. Please do not let this happen to them again. I mean they aren't dumb enough to fall into this trap again, right? I really hope this is all a coincidence.
[EDIT]: Yes, this is hearsay. But if the NCAA comes down on Johnny Football for this, I expect the NCAA to start snooping around Ann Arbor, Columbus, and so on. Even if nothing is there.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:39 PM ^
Taylor Lewan is also mentioned as one of the college stars connected to this memorabilia broker.
I hope this won't blow smoke from the Manziel tire fire towards Ann Arbor.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:40 PM ^
August 7th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
I have seen Braxton take 'gifts' before
Do tell
The security team from a bar I used to work at got absolutely REAMED because the owner found out that Braxton Miller was allowed in - as a recruit. He showed up with Pryor, Stoneburner, and a couple other guys. Those security guards got their ass chewed for the better part of 20 minutes over that one.
Like I stated elsewhere in this thread, I have good friends who do this line of work and I have seen Braxton as a freshmen (before Urban got to ohio) take $5 dollar bills and $10 dollar bills per autograph, depending on item. I have no evidence, so it's basically my word. The athletes FLIP if you have your phone, camera, etc. out... they are THAT paranoid.
Word now is that depending on item, it's a "what will you do for me?" scenario. I haven't seen anything like this since then regarding ohio. But I can tell you, Lewan does NOT do it for money. He barely signs anything at all.
I just now saw your later comments - thank you for the clarification. Wasn't sure if you were being sarcastic, snarky, or had actual experience.
Now that I know you experienced his transgressions first-hand, I say screw Miller...snap a photo...and send it to Muschamp! I think he might have a score to settle!
It was more of a hindsight thing; I really didn't expect to see any football players as it was at a Michigan ohio hockey game in columbus- In January.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^
Wow that seems so out of character for Lewan, although I'm sure that's what everyone is saying about their guys on the list too (except Texas A&M). I just don't see it with him though. If he wanted to get paid why not hop to the NFL last year where he was sure to be a top 15 pick?
August 7th, 2013 at 12:45 PM ^
Fortunately it looks like there's only 2 helmets from Lewan in there (and there's 1 or 2 in there from a lot of people). I kind of hate to see Lewan's name anywhere near this, but his (and the other guys') 2 signatures looks a good bit less suspicious than the other guys 10-15+
August 7th, 2013 at 12:49 PM ^
that Lewan's signature was forged or possibly copied from something else found and reproduced without his knowledge or permission?
but its not a problem if some guy gets Lewans autograph, then sells it on ebay. Its only an issue if Lewan was getting compensated for it. So even if this guy sold Lewan signatures, I don't think thats automatically a problem.
but I think that ANYthing there with Lewan's name on it will raise suspicion of his involvement or an accusation that he may have sold something with his signature on it. For one, I don't believe a word of it. Taylor is too smart, imo, to get mixed up in this.
That was my thinking as well. The issue wasn't Manziel signing things; it was that he purportedly received $7,500 from the collector.
But yeah, not good news for anyone involved. Would like to know the context, since he only had 2 objects.
It's not so much that it's not good news for those involved. While it is technically against NCAA rules, if this goes as deep as it seems on the surface, the NCAA would lose all credibility if they banished all of these players.
This is the same NCAA that generates revenue from selling jerseys and the like with players' numbers on them. To then go and tell the players they can't sell their own signature because it violates amateurism rules is pure hypicrosy. The NCAA is going down if this goes beyond Manziel. I'm not saying it's OK to do something against the rules; it's not. But you are essentially allowing the NCAA to take revenue that would otherwise go to the players. Exploitation at its finest, imo.
but the likely example from the guy on eBay is that he got players to sign stuff for free by acting (or paying someone to act) like a fan or buying items from fans that had them signed and then reselling on eBay.
Before Hoke got here, the team signed more. Once Hoke arrived, the only time he really let the team sign was during that get-together at The Big House where fans come in. Hoke specifically tells all the kids, ESPECIALLY recruits not to sign. Perfect example: Shane Morris. Used to sign all the time as a Senior in HS, however in about January (when he started frequenting trips to A2, he stopped signing, or at least stopped signing a lot.)
^ This is all information I have gathered from my buddies who do this line of work for a living, so take it for what it's worth.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^
Taylor Lewan is also on the list (though I didn't read anything about him receiving payment):
August 7th, 2013 at 12:38 PM ^
This is all hearsay and conjecture, there is absolutely no evidence with which to accuse these fine gentleman, nothing to see here, move along.
Hearsay and conjecture? Those are kinds of evidence.
/Hutz'd
August 7th, 2013 at 12:38 PM ^
Just saw on espn.com that Cam Newton is giving Johnny Football advice on the spotlight
"Yo Johnny, you gotta make your dad take all the money. That's how you get away with it kid!"
August 7th, 2013 at 12:48 PM ^
That Newton guy had it all figured out.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
If my understanding is correct, it's not the autograph that's the issue. The problem is that he charged for them. Just having some autographs available from this guy does next to nothing to implicate the guys in the OP in some kind of wrong doing. I wouldn't think too much about more players being involved until we hear some more convincing evidence.
If my understanding is correct, it's not the autograph that's the issue. The problem is that he charged for them.
Exactly correct.
There are two levels of "problem" with this issue of autographs and college players:
- Actually committing a rules infraction
- The appearance of a potential rules infraction
#1 is pretty cut-and-dry provided the evidence is there to support.
#2 is what Hoke's "no sign" policy would be about ... if having a lot of Michigan player autographs floating around on e-Bay creates the appearance of potential issues, then don't sign autographs. Eliminate the source for potential team and university embarrassment.
It's a sorry thing that kids seeking autographs from their heroes have to be denied for reasons such as this. But such is our crazy, mixed-up world.
I don't know what to make of Hoke's no-autograph policy.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^
Re OSU, how does that go again - everybody that ain't come to play school murders the respect for women, or some shit like that....?
August 7th, 2013 at 12:43 PM ^
August 7th, 2013 at 12:44 PM ^
August 7th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
Your creepy best friend who chases after college kids to make money off their signatures told you this?
THis information came from a guy who is not my friend, I actually rather dispise the guy. but he drove to texas and he himself paid Manziel for 15 minutes (he claims) to sign about 20-25 items that include full size replica helmets, Jerseys, and Footballs.
My buddy mostly does (pro) hockey and (Pro) baseball because there's more money (quantity) in it. So he mostly follows pro teams... He still does College Football in the early part of the season when Baseball dies down (playoffs) and hockey has yet to begin. I have seen Braxton Miller take small amounts of money when he was a freshmen, so I do believe this guy when he says that Braxton takes hundreds now.
relate a story about them waiting for him outside Schembechler at night?
This happened to Denard I think in his sophomore season (perhaps junior) - I personally know this guy who did that stalking, unfortuneately went to high school with him. He used to spend hours outside schembechler to get Denard either coming or going...
It was John U. Bacon, in the chapter of 3&O where he follows Denard for a day (p. 360, for those of you following at home).
At 10:34, they finally walked out of Schembechler Hall for the last time that day. Normally they would be coming out of the Academic Center, but somehow two middle-aged men carrying a stack of glossy photos figured out where they were and approached Robinson the moment he walked outside to sign their photos of him. It was all for charity, of course, or their ten-year-old kids—they claimed both at various times—so Robinson autographed one each, then said, "That's it, man," and got into Gardner's pickup.
So I don't think the presence of 2 Lewan items, or even a dozen Braxton Miller items, really means all that much.
I personally know one of them; like I said, I went to high school with and the other is his buddy. They literally have no lives, they would stalk Denard and have him sign Blank pieces of white glossy paper that they would then take and print a photo on.
Just two weeks ago at the Big Ten Media Days Kickoff Luncheon, they had about an hour before the actual event where each team had a booth with the players/coach and attending fans could line up to meet/talk/get autographs from them. It was a cool way to meet some of the players and get a quick autograph and also be in the same room with player representatives and coaches of all of the other Big Ten teams.
It was hard not to notice a pair of guys who clearly weren't fans of any of the schools, but were rather shamelessly lugging around 3 or 4 large duffel bags filled with gear from different Big Ten teams and collecting autographs. It was apparent they were pro's at this with their system they had set up and in a packed hotel lobby they weren't concerned with how many kids/fans they were bumping into with their large bags.
Numerous people made comments to each other and it did cast a "shady" shadow on an otherwise great event, but it was clear these guys are everywhere. While most kids/fans were just getting something signed for their personal collection, guys like the two mentioned are probably at every event with access to players/coaches (that are open to the public, my guess is these two simply bought tickets to the event) and the players/coaches doing the signing have no way of telling what the persons intentions are with the autograph, they're just trying to make a fans day and aren't being compensated in any way.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:45 PM ^
This isn't evidence of anything other than that someone (possibly the player) has written on memorabilia. I feel dirty giving that guy's website a hit.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:48 PM ^
Im going to say that Lewan passed up millions. So, because his name is listed I would assume that he is not selling autographs and its a coincidence. I would also like to say that any of these players listed could be targeted by brokers who attend the Fan Day events yearly at diferent schools. This is obviously the reason it is now labeled "youth Day". We need to do whatever it takes to detour these people from trying to get an autograph so that they can sell it off. Honestly I believe that if there are no pics or vids of Lewan signing autographs with stacks of cash next to him in the vid or pic, the allegations of his involvement in this mess are irrelevent.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:50 PM ^
I can only blame Urban Meyer for Miller's name showing up.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:52 PM ^
I've personally paid Braxton Miller $20,000 to sign mini-footballs for me. Was that wrong?
Only if you didn't blow that 20k on tattoos.
including video, signed confessions from Miller, and receipts in triplicate.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
who generates them gets paid while that athlete still has eligibility. The mere connection of an athlete's name on an article of clothing or football doesn't condemn the player. There would have to be evidence of payment for that service.
And here's the major rub: You have ESPN which pays huge rights fees to the conferences for games, promotes college athlete images and personalities as if they are pros, and then conducts investigative reports to determine if athletes are in violation of the image breaking for compensation that ESPN shamlessly promotes for its own ratings and circulation benefit. I mean it has no problem putting Manziel's picture on the cover of its magazine or talking about his off-the-filed actiivities all day long even though the kid is in his sophomore year of college.
If he isn't a pro, quit treating him like one and then pretend to act as if he isn't when it suits whatever storyline tops your news agenda that day.
Maybe you're confused about the term, "illegal." None of these athletes are getting arrested for this unless there was some serious tax fraud.
Johnny Manziel is'nt guilty of anything if he didn't take any cash, I shouldn't think He'd be guilty if he made an arrangement to be paid by these "Brokers" after he exhausted his eligibility/declared for the NFL Draft. That's JMHO.
August 7th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
Especially if you had Braxton sign a picture of Frank Clark smacking him with the word "ARMPUNT" on it.
paid Manziel? The fact that these low-lifes hound college students for their autographs is hardly new. I don't condone athletes signing for money under the present agreement, but I have a hard time believing this guy is talking from his need to clear his conscience. I would love to see him answering to a couple of attorneys. What is the potential for damage to the value of Lewan's first contract, just as one example?
Double Post. Sry